Thirteenth Hour
by Amber Mason1
Summary: *author's note* This story takes place after or during the 2017 Christmas Special (depending on when the 12th Doctor regenerates into the 13th) A newly regenerated thirteenth Doctor lands on an alien planet and bumps into some familiar faces along the way
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Before the regeneration energy could consume him completely the Doctor staggered back to the safety of the TARDIS. He practically fell through the doors and dragged himself towards the console. As his hands started to glow he pulled himself up, using the console to support himself. He reached out a hand and pulled a lever and the TARDIS lurched into motion. The wheezing groaning sound filled the TARDIS's console room as it dematerialised and started its journey to the time vortex. The Doctor stepped away from the console as the regeneration glow spread from his hands to his face. The Doctor spreads his arms wide and faced the sky as the regeneration energy took him over. The yellow energy burst from his arms and hit the console rooms' walls, which exploded with the impact. The Doctor screamed as he felt every cell in his body die and be reborn once more. The light got brighter and the Doctor's features began to change. The light radiating from the Doctor's regeneration was so powerful that more of the console room began to explode and parts of the console even burst into flames. As soon as the light has reached its brightest point it fades and the Doctor is revealed, renewed and regenerated. The Doctor looked around at the blaze in the console room, at the destruction his recent regeneration has caused. Then the Doctor remembered that he had just changed again.

"Right, ok, let's see. Still got two legs, that's good. Two arms, good. The hair. Let's see. I'm…blonde…still not ginger. Wait a minute. It's so long. I'm a girl" The Doctor looks down at his chest.

"Hmm…well that's new. Wait, I am a girl. Well a woman anyway. That's new. Never happened before. What else is new then? Are there other parts I don't know about? I've ever been a woman before. I didn't ask Missy about that, maybe I should have done. So many questions and no one to ask. Good job Bill wasn't here though, looking at this place she'd have been toasted. Now where was I…"

The TARDIS lurches out of control and the Doctor falls against the console.

"Ah yes, crashing. Let's get you under control old girl. I'll try and land you somewhere"

The Doctor pushes a few buttons on the console, avoiding the flames, and attempts to land the TARDIS. She jumps back as another section of the console explodes and sparks fly from the wreckage.

"Alright old girl, don't give out on my just yet. Let me get you somewhere safe first" The Doctor tried to soothe the TARDIS.

The TARDIS groaned and the floor beneath the Doctor's feet juddered. The Doctor pulled the screen towards her and looked at the readout.

"Well, we've landed but…"

Before the Doctor could see where the TARDIS had taken her the screen went black and exploded. The Doctor was thrown onto the console room floor. She picked herself back up and ran towards the TARDIS doors. She threw them open and was thrown out by another explosion rattling through the console room. She was thrown clear of the TARDIS and quickly spun herself around. Through the still open doors she could see the console room ablaze, the fire eating its way through the space. Before she could get up and try to get back into the TARDIS the doors slammed shut. The Doctor pushes herself up off the floor and brushes the dirt off her trousers.

"Where have you taken me this time old girl?" The Doctors asks the TARDIS.

Just as the Doctor is about to turn around and take a proper look at the surrounding area, rather than the quick glance she got as she flew out the TARDIS doors, she hears footsteps behind her.

"I thought I heard the TARDIS" The Doctor hears a familiar voice behind her.

She turns around and coming out of the undergrowth the Doctor sees a familiar face. Her black kicks covered in mud and splattered up the legs of her black trousers. Her checked red and black shirt and khaki green jacket untouched. The Doctor looks up to her face. She takes in the familiar brown eyes and the cute button nose. The small face perfectly framed with her brown hair.

"Are you his companion?" Clara asks The Doctor.

The Doctor snaps out of the momentary trance that seeing Clara again had put her into.

"His companion?" The Doctor questions her, stunned.

"The Doctor. You're travelling with him, aren't you?" Clara asks her again.

"Clara, don't you recognise me?"

"I've never seen you before…wait a minute…how do you know my name?" Clara takes a step back from the Doctor, a little nervous.

"Clara, it's me. I'm the Doctor"

"But…you're a…" Clara stuttered, momentarily taken aback by the Doctor's new appearance.

She takes a step towards the Doctor, she looks into her eyes. Clara looks into those new eyes and can see something familiar in them. The more she looks the more she can see that the woman stood in front of her is the Doctor. Her Doctor. She has that old look in her eyes, just like he did. Impossibly old.

"It is you. But how did this happen?" Clara queries the Doctor.

"Long story, I'm still a bit fuzzy on some of the details"

"I knew that Time Lords could switch genders but I never thought it would happen to you"

"There was a time I thought the same thing. But regeneration is a game of chance. Every time you never know what you're going to get. I'm beginning to wish I'd asked Missy more about it. This is all so strange and unfamiliar. There's so many new parts"

"Urgh, too much information" Clara wrinkles up her nose.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to this yet. This is all new to me. You're used to being a woman. I'm not" The Doctor looks down at her new body again.

Clara goes over to the TARDIS and tries to go inside but finds the doors are locked.

"She still doesn't like me" Clara remarks.

"What? Oh, you mean the TARDIS. Let me try"

The Doctor approaches the TARDIS doors and tries to push them open, but finds them locked too. She tries again, but the doors don't budge.

"It must be rebuilding. I did make quite a mess of the console room" The Doctor remarks.

"Sounds like your last regeneration was a little messy"

"I wouldn't say messy. More explosive and I mean that literally. I set fire to most, if not all, of the console room"

"Ok, so no TARDIS then"

"Nope, no TARDIS. But never mind. I've managed without her before, looks like I'll have to again. She'll need a few hours to rebuild"

"Do you still have your sonic screwdriver?"

The Doctor pats down all her pockets. She starts off with her trouser pockets but has no luck there. She pats down her jacket and feels a strange lump on her chest, which has nothing to do with the other two unfamiliar lumps that recently appeared. She opens her jacket and reaches into the inner pocket. She pulls out the sonic screwdriver, surprisingly still intact.

"I'm surprised this didn't get fried as well"

The Doctor cautiously pushes a button on the sonic screwdriver and it still emits the same blue glow along with the familiar electronic whine. She keeps pushing the button, waiting for the sonic to explode in her hands but it never happens. She takes her finger off and for the first time sees her new hands. The sonic looks so much bigger in them. They're so much smaller and the fingers more delicate.

"Doctor? What's wrong?" Clara asks.

"Nothing. It's just…I never noticed before…"

Clara looks at the Doctor, still so unsure about her new body. Looking at her hands with such fascination. In some ways she wished she could see herself like that. She watches as the Doctor examines her nails.

"This is as much of a shock for you as it is for me, isn't it" Clara questions the Doctor.

"I'm not sure shock's the right word for it. I suppose it's more of an adventure. There's so much to discover about this new body. What it can do. What it's capable of. It's a whole new experience. There's planets and galaxies out there that this body has experience yet and it's all so…exciting"

Clara sees the look on her friends face. The way she smiles and it lights up her whole face. She can't remember the last time she saw the Doctor this happy. So excited about a whole new world of possibilities that she's yet to face. So ready for adventure. She remembers when she was like that travelling with her. So thrilled at the prospect of travelling through time and space. Discovering everything. It was where it all started for her. With the Doctor.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Deeper in the undergrowth, thick with bushes and impossibly tall trees, a worn pair of black boots trample on the soil and scrub. The long black flowing outfit trails behind her, brushing over the roots. She runs through the forest towards the familiar sound she had heard from deep within. A sound she didn't think she'd ever hear again. Eventually she reaches a clearing and finally she sees what she hoped she'd find. Just across the clearing, there is was, stood there as if it had always been there. That big blue box, so full of hope. The TARDIS. There stood in front of the doors with their backs to her was Clara and someone else she'd never seen before. She assumed it was the Doctor's new companion. The blonde hair swept back, the black boots, the grey coat. So much like what the Doctor was wearing when she'd last seen him.

"I thought I heard the TARDIS" she called out to Clara.

Clara and the strange woman turn around to face her.

"So where's the Doctor?" She asks them both.

"Ashildr, this is the Doctor" Clara tells her, pointing to the woman stood next to her.

"She's the Doctor? But…how?" Ashildr asks, confused.

"I wish I had time to explain that. But not important right now" The Doctor tells her.

"Where were you going?" Ashildr turns to Clara, thinking she was about to run off with the Doctor.

"Nowhere" Clara responds.

"Don't lie. I saw you two stood right in front of the TARDIS doors. So I'll ask you again where were you going?" Ashildr repeats, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.

"We really weren't going anywhere. We can't. Doctor tell her" Clara tries to explain to Ashildr, already knowing that she doesn't believe her.

"We really weren't going anywhere. The TARDIS is rebuilding. She won't let us in" The Doctor explained, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Why is the TARDIS having to rebuild?" Ashildr queries the Doctor.

"It kind of exploded" The Doctor replies.

"The TARDIS exploded! How?" Ashildr questions.

"That would have been my fault. Well, not really my fault. Regenerations can be quite a messy sometimes. This one was particularly explosive it seems. I managed to set the whole console room on fire" The Doctor explains, looking rather guilty and sheepish at the fact that she'd just destroyed part of her beloved TARDIS.

"It's surprising that something so beautiful can come out of something so explosive" Clara remarks.

"Am I beautiful then?" The Doctor asks Clara, having not even seen her new face yet.

"Erm…did I say that out loud?" Clara says as she blushes.

"You did" Ashildr confirms, trying to hide the annoyance on her face.

"Well…I mean. I think so. It's a nice face. Do you not know what you look like?" Clara questions the Doctor.

"I've not had a chance. I regenerated, set the TARDIS on fire. Landed her and was promptly thrown out of the doors. I didn't have time to go and find a mirror and take a good look at myself" The Doctor tells them.

"I'm afraid you'll have no more luck with finding a mirror here" Clara sighs.

"Find out what I look like isn't the most important thing right now" The Doctor informs them both, all of a sudden looking very serious.

"What's wrong Doctor?" Ashildr asks.

The Doctor turns her serious look to Ashildr, who promptly shrinks away from the look on the Doctor's new face. There's anger in that look, disappointment and something else that Ashildr can't quite put her finger on.

"Do you remember the last time I saw you two?" The Doctor questions them both.

Clara and Ashildr both look at each other, confused. The Doctor continues to glare at them, there's power in that glare, but not nearly as much as there has been in her previous regeneration.

"By the looks on your faces I'm guessing you don't. Either that or you're choosing not to. Let me remind you some more. The last time we saw each other you made a promise to me. Both of you" The Doctor tells them, intensifying her glare.

"Promise…?" Clara asks.

Just as she says that word it all comes back to her. The promise that she and Ashildr made to the Doctor.

"Oh…" Clara looks at the floor, not wanting to meet the Doctors eyes.

At the same moment Ashildr remembers the promise that she made the Doctor too. The Doctor can see the guilty looks on both their faces but decides to remind them of that promise anyway.

"You, Ashildr, promised me that you were going to take Clara back to Gallifrey. I remember you promising me that. To put her back into her time stream" The Doctor scolds them and folds her arms.

"And I still am, Doctor. But it doesn't matter when she gets back to Gallifrey, just as long as she gets there" Ashildr tries to explain.

"Don't be angry Doctor" Clara pleads.

"How long has it been? How long have you two been travelling together?" The Doctor questions them, the frown softening slightly.

"I'm not sure. We started running and…I don't think we've ever stopped" Clara tells him, echoing the Doctor's own words.

"You know what that feeling like, don't you Doctor?" Ashildr asks, curious.

"Of course I do. To fly from one adventure to the next. To run and never stop. Never look back. Always looking forward. But what you've got to remember is that everything ends. Every journey has a final destination. No matter how many diversions you take" The Doctor informs them, whimsical at the start of the speech but deeply serious by the end.

"I'm sorry Doctor. I will not break my promise to you. We will go to Gallifrey, I'll make sure of it" Clara promises the Doctor.

The Doctors frown disappears completely and she smiles at Clara. Not able to resist any longer she wraps her arms around Clara and hugs her. At first shocked, Clara is unsure what to do with her arms, but eventually returns the Doctors hug. The Doctor holds her former companion tight, having missed her more than she realised. They eventually break apart and a solitary tear rolls down the Doctor's cheek. She wipes it away before Clara can see it.

"So you're a hugger now then" Clara remarks.

"Looks like it. I'm not sure. I'm still figuring out just who I am" The Doctor tells her.

Clara smiles at the Doctor. In that moment she realises that she'd missed the Doctor just as much as the Doctor has missed her. All the adventures they'd been on, everything they'd been through together. The woman stood in front of her was still the Doctor, even if she had a brand new face and body to go with it.

"So, what are you doing here?" The Doctor asks them.

Before Clara and Ashildr can respond there is a loud whooshing sound coming from the sky above them. They all look up and see something burning across the sky. The object is moving at an impossible speed. The Doctor, Clara and Ashildr watch as the object crashes through the sky and disappears behind the trees. A few seconds later they hear a loud crash as whatever had been hurtling through the sky hit the ground. Clara and Ashildr turn back to the Doctor, waiting for instructions.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You wanted an adventure, you've got one. Let's go and find out what just crashed here" The Doctor tells them as she rushed off into the brush.

Clara and Ashildr look at each other, shrug, and run off after the Doctor.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When the Doctor reaches the crash site she can see the devastation the spaceship caused as it fell from the sky. All of the trees that she can see are burnt and broken, some of them still ablaze. The ground around the crashed ship is burnt and blackened, with fragments that have broken off the ship on impact scattered around it. The spaceship itself was nestled in the ground, in a crater that it had created itself when it smashed into the planet's surface. As soon as she catches sight of the ship something triggers in her memory. She knows that ship from somewhere. She had seen it somewhere before. But where, where had she seen it before? It takes a few seconds but then she remembers. As soon as she does she runs towards that space ship, because she knows who the pilot is, and she has to save them. She has to make sure that they're still alive, because she cannot, she will not, lose them again. She stands on top of the ship, frantically searching for the door. When she eventually finds it she kneels down and tries to pry it open, but the door is firmly shut. She reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out the sonic screwdriver. She stands up and aims the sonic at the door and pushes the button. The blue light emits from the end and the electronic buzz cuts through the air. From behind her the Doctor hears two sets of footsteps approaching.

"You two finally caught up then" she calls out to Clara and Ashildr.

"Just like old times, you running straight towards the danger and leaving us to follow" Clara tells her.

"What are you doing?" Ashildr asks.

"Trying to open the door" the Doctor responds, sonic still aimed at the door.

"But Doctor, there could be anything inside that ship" Clara warns, shocked at the Doctor's actions.

"Because I know who's inside that ship" the Doctor tells them.

At the same time Clara and Ashildr both open their mouth to ask who, but before the words can leave their mouths the door hisses open. The Doctor steps forward and peers down into the spaceship. She quickly takes a step back as she hears footsteps coming from inside. She jumps back down to the ground and stands beside Clara and Ashildr as the occupant of the ship clambers out.

"Well I've had better landings but still, I'm in one piece so that's a bonus" the ship's occupant proclaims as they clamber out of the ship.

She eventually drags herself out and jumps down onto the ground, her black boots slamming onto the floor. The Doctor takes her in. The black trousers and the slightly too tight forest green shirt.

"So, who do I have to thank for saving me then?" She asks the Doctor, Clara and Ashildr.

The Doctor is speechless, unable to form the words through the shock of seeing her again. Clara see's the look on the Doctor's face, it's a look she's never seen before. She looks at Ashildr and can see that it's a look she has clearly seen on the Doctor's face before. The woman looks at all three of them, seeing the confusion on the faces of Clara and Ashildr and the shock on the Doctor's.

"What is it? What's wrong? Have I got something on my face?" She questions them.

The Doctor snaps out of her state of shock.

"I'm the Doctor, this is Clara and Ashildr" she informs her, pointing at her companions behind her.

The woman looks shocked and confused for a second. She knew a Doctor once. When she started running. When she stole her spaceship and went on her very first adventure. There had been many more since then. She never thought she'd see the Doctor again. She kept running, kept fighting danger at every turn, hoping the Doctor would be there but he never was. Until now. Here was the Doctor right in front of her, the one person in the world she had always wanted to find. Here was her father, or, she supposed now, her mother.

"Doctor? Is it really you?" She asks her, stepping towards her.

"It's me Jenny. I might have changed faces" she looks down at her body. "And bodies a couple of times since we last met. But I'm still me"

Jenny touches the Doctor's face, just to make sure that she isn't dreaming or hallucinating. But the Doctor was solid and very real in front of her. The Doctor put her hand on top of Jenny's, the daughter she thought she had lost so long ago. The woman she thought was dead. At the same time a tear rolled down both women's cheeks. The Doctor crying because she had found the daughter she thought dead. Jenny crying because she had finally found the one person she had spent what felt like several lifetimes searching for. Clara and Ashildr watched this exchange bemused, completely oblivious to what was unfolding in front of them.

"I thought you were dead" the Doctor tells her.

"I wasn't. I'm more like you than you think. The moment I came back, I started running again" Jenny informs her.

"Did you steal that ship?" The Doctor asks her, remembering where she last saw it.

"I might have done" Jenny admits guiltily.

"I'd like to say I'm disappointed in you but…well…to tell you the truth I did the same thing" The Doctor confesses.

"Doctor? Can you fill us in on what we're missing?" Clara questions her.

This snaps both the Doctor and Jenny back to the present and their current situation.

"Of course, sorry. Clara, Ashildr, meet Jenny. My…well…I guess…she's my daughter" The Doctor tells Ashildr and Clara.

They both look at the Doctor and Jenny with disbelief. Clara snaps out of it sooner than Ashildr.

"She's your daughter? When did this happen? How?" Clara throws questions at them both.

"A long time ago and in a place very far away. It's all a bit complicated" The Doctor tries to explain.

"I'll try and give you the short version. I was born from a machine. It extracted some of the Doctor's DNA and created me" Jenny told them both.

"How come you never told me about her?" Clara asks the Doctor, raising an accusatory eyebrow.

"Because I thought she was dead. She was shot right in front of me and I couldn't do anything to save her. So I left. I never knew she was still alive, not until now" The Doctor tells her, looking down at the ground to hide the tears falling from her eyes.

At that moment Ashildr knows how the Doctor feels, having lost her own children so long ago. It's a memory that has never left her and a memory she will never allow to become unimportant. She goes over to the Doctor and gives her a reassuring hug that tells the Doctor that something she thought she had lost for so long has been found again. That this should be seen as a good thing. The Doctor and Ashildr break apart from their hug, the Doctor wiping tears from her eyes.

"So what happened?" The Doctor asks, remembering the crash that bought them all here.

"There was a ship chasing me, I don't know what was on it but whatever it was they were after me. But everything was fine, all systems were running as they should. I was confident that I could give them the slip. Then all of a sudden I lost control of the ship. It's like something got on board and took over the ship. Whatever that something was I think it hacked into the ships controls and just took over. I tried to fight against it but, it was just too fast. Eventually I realised there was nothing I could do so I just let whatever it was take over and tried to control the ship as best as I could when it was plummeting towards the ground" Jenny tells them.

The Doctor frowns, again. She points the sonic screwdriver at the ship and pushes a button and scans the ship. She looks at the readout. Her frown deepens.

"Doctor? What is it? What was on the ship?" Clara queries.

"I'm not sure, the readout is unclear. But Jenny's right. Whatever it was it took control of the ship" the Doctor explains, still frowning at the sonic screwdriver and what it's telling her.

"So where is it now?" Ashildr questions.

"I don't know. It's not on the ship anymore. It must have scuttled away when the ship crashed" the Doctor tells them as she walks around the ship, scanning the ground with her sonic screwdriver.

Jenny follows the Doctor, unsure as to why she's doing it. She examines the ground that the Doctor is scanning, looking for clues. The Doctor suddenly comes to a stop and again looks at the readout from her sonic. Jenny peers at it from over the Doctor's shoulder, but is unable to discern what any of the readout actually means.

"So Doctor?" Ashildr prompts.

"Whatever it was it went that way" the Doctor informs them, pointing ahead of her.

Clara and Ashildr join the Doctor and Jenny and they all gaze into the forest.

"How are we going to find it amongst all those trees? It could be anywhere" Clara tries to sound like she's not complaining.

The Doctor frowns again. Going deep into an alien forest to look for a creature of unknown origin was never going to be safe. But then again she did want an adventure and wherever danger was found, adventure was never far behind.

"We've got two options here. We stay here and wait for whatever was in that ship to come back and bring its friends with it" the Doctor suggests.

"Or…" Jenny prompts, not wanting to go for the first option.

"Or we go after it. Catch up with it. Find out what it's doing here and why it followed you"

"Well…I don't know about anyone else but I want to know whatever that thing that crashed my ship was" Jenny states.

Clara looks at Ashildr, she can see that they're both thinking the same thing.

"Well we wanted an adventure, count us in" Clara shrugs.

The Doctor, Clara, Ashildr and Jenny had been so preoccupied with gazing into the forest that they hadn't heard the two sets of footsteps approaching from behind them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Just as the Doctor, Clara, Ashildr and Jenny are about to step foot into the forest a voice from behind them calls them back, stops them.

"Wait, you don't want to go in there" the voice calls out to them.

The Doctor, Clara, Ashildr and Jenny stop and wait for the voice to say something more.

"Why?" The Doctor asks, not turning around.

"Because I know what's in there. I know what caused that ship to crash and scuttled off into the forest" the voice tells them.

This is enough to cause the Doctor to turn around and face whoever it was that was talking behind them. The first thing the Doctor sees is the familiar, uncontrollable black afro of Bill Potts and stood there, right beside her, Heather, the girl with a star in her eye. The Doctor smiles, seeing her friend again. Clara, Ashildr and Jenny turn around and look at the two women behind them with curiosity.

"How do you know what it was?" Clara questions them, not waiting for the Doctor.

"Because we followed it here" Heather replies.

"But…?" Jenny is about to ask before the Doctor silences her.

Clara, Jenny and Ashildr look at the Doctor confused.

"How did you get here?" The Doctor queries.

"We tracked the creature. We followed it here" Bill tells the Doctor.

The Doctor walks forward and stands closer to Bill and Heather.

"You really don't recognise me, do you?" The Doctor looks directly at Bill when she asks this question.

Bill looks into the Doctors eyes, right into them and the Doctor watches Bill as she searches her eyes. It takes some time but she notices the moment when Bill see's something familiar in her eyes.

"Doctor? Is that really you?" Bill questions.

"It's really me" The Doctor tells her.

"So the Master was right then. When he asked you if the future was going to be all female" Bill remarks.

The Doctor laughs as she remembers the Master's words and her response to them. But a nudge from Clara snaps her back to the present moment.

"Doctor, what are we missing?" Clara prompts.

"Sorry, yes, of course. Clara, Ashildr, Jenny this is Bill and Heather" The Doctor introduces her former companion and her own travelling companion.

"Is she…did you find some else after me?" Clara asks, tears in her eyes and she remember what she made the Doctor promise so long ago.

"It took me a long time but I kept my promise to you. I made sure that I didn't travel alone" the Doctor reassures her.

Clara wipes the tears away from her eyes, unaware that Ashildr is also trying to hide her own tears, remember all that time ago and that fateful day which eventually led them to where they are now.

"Anyway, back to the original point" the Doctor reminds all of them gathered there. "What is it that caused Jenny's ship to crash?"

"A Cybermat" Bill tells them.

The Doctor, Bill, Heather and Clara all have a look of dread on their faces, knowing what this means. Ashildr and Jenny, having never faced Cybermen before, both look at each other confused at the looks that are now on their friends face. Not knowing the danger that lies before them.

"Is that bad?" Ashildr asks.

"It means that, for some reason, the Cybermen thought that Jenny was getting too close to something. Whatever that something is it's on this planet. So they sent their little Cybermat out to crash her ship, thinking it would kill her, stop her discover whatever it was they didn't want her to find" the Doctor explains.

"But the crash didn't kill Jenny" Clara points out.

"No, but the Cybermat's a clever little creature. As soon as the ship crashed it'll have known the pilot was resisting it, trying to make sure the ship crashed safely. It'll have known the pilot wasn't dead, but knowing the pilot would be either unconscious or stuck in her ship, it snuck off as soon as the ship hit the ground. What my sonic screwdriver picked up, do you know what that was?" The Doctor tells them, making them all think.

"A distress signal?" Jenny guesses.

"Exactly, a distress signal. So that little Cybermat is now whizzing its way through the forest towards whatever it is the Cybermen are hoping to keep hidden. As it's whizzing away it's beaming a distress call to the ship above. Which means the Cybermen up there in their ship are tracking their little friend" The Doctor theorises.

"But what does that mean Doctor?" Ashildr questions.

"It means that there's going to be a Cybership landing here soon. Wherever they land it'll be right near whatever they're hiding" The Doctor responds.

"Then we've got to find out what it is their hiding" Bill suggests.

"Exactly" the Doctor agrees.

"So how do we do that?" Jenny asks.

"We follow the signal using the sonic screwdriver" the Doctor replies.

"And when we find them?" Ashildr queries.

"We'll work that out when we get there" the Doctor answers.

"So, you don't have a plan then" Clara notes.

"Not yet, but there's a thing in progress. I'm sure I'll work it out eventually" the Doctor tells her.

The Doctor points her sonic screwdriver at the ground and this time instead of hearing the electronic buzz the screwdriver would usually make there was a faint beeping sound. The Doctor held it up to her ear and listened closely. She turns back to her companions, trying to disguise the smile on her face.

"So then, are we all ready for an adventure?" She asks them.

Her assembled all have that look of excitement on their face. That look that says they all know they're about to face danger but no matter what they'll face it with the Doctor.

"Well then, let's go" the Doctor tells them.

She starts to make her way into the forest, her sonic screwdriver held in front of her. Still lit up. Still making the same faint beeping sound. The light from the sonic casts an eerie blue glow on the trees surround the Doctor and her companions. Jenny takes one last look back at her crashed ship, the ship she had flown for so long, and then follows the Doctor, Clara, Ashildr, Bill and Heather.

"Doctor…I don't suppose when all this is over…?" Jenny starts to ask.

"I'll help you rebuild your ship. I know how attached a time lord can get to her vessel" The Doctor promises her.

Jenny wraps an arm around the Doctor and rests her head on the Doctor's shoulder. The Doctor stokes his daughters hair, such a precious thing she once thought lost. Now that the Doctor had found her again she realised she didn't want to let her go. Didn't want to lose her all over again. The Doctor glances at the companions that surround her. All people she once thought she'd lost. All people who meant something to her, in one regeneration or another. Clara she had lost so long ago, torn from her because she became so like her, so reckless. She remembers the devastation she felt when she lost Clara and the actions she took afterwards. Which is how Clara is stood by her side right now. Not really alive but not dead either. Somewhere in between the two, trapped in a loop in that second before she died. She glances at Ashildr. The girl she saved so long ago because she died saving her village. A plan the Doctor helped to orchestrate caused Ashildr to lose her life. So the Doctor saved her. But in saving Ashildr's life, the Doctor made her immortal. An infinite life with only a finite memory. Everyone else see's immortality as living forever, but they don't understand it like the Doctor does. Like Ashildr does. Immortality isn't living forever, it's everyone else dying. Watching everyone you care about die, whilst you live on, never aging. The Doctor watched Ashildr, not through every moment of her life, but she kept checking in on her, making sure she was still ok. But then she lost track on her, which was a big mistake. When she found her again she lost Clara. But then she went to the end of the universe to find Ashildr again. This time it was different though. This time it was to undo all the wrongs he had done. This time it was to make sure that Clara would still have her adventures, just not with her anymore, but still get back to Gallifrey. She left Clara with Ashildr. She left her with Ashildr so they would go back to Gallifrey, hoping that they'd take the long way round. She hoped that one day she might see them both again. But she never thought that she would. The Doctor glances over at Bill and Heather, together, like they should be. She remembers the moment she lost Bill. She told Bill to wait for her and she did. For a very long time. But by the time the Doctor reached her she had been turned into a Cyberman by the Master. But Bill was stronger than the Master knew, she still retained the memories of herself. Beneath the surface she was still Bill. Which was how she was saved. But not by the Doctor. Bill was saved by Heather. The Doctor smiles realising that she is surrounded by the people that she values the most. She might not know the sort of Doctor she is going to be just yet, but she knows that these people will guide her along the way. The pitch of the sonic screwdriver gets louder, snapping the Doctor back to their present adventure.

"We must be getting closer" the Doctor remarks.

The group all slow down, listening to the loud beeping on the sonic screwdriver, warning them that the Cybermat isn't very far away. The group is about to carry on, deeper into the forest, following the beeping sound of the sonic screwdriver when they hear a noise overhead. They all look up and through the canopy of the trees they see a ship pass overhead. Ashildr looks to Clara, her travelling companion, waiting to see what they're going to do. Bill looks to Heather, again to see what they're going to do. Both Clara and Heather are looking to the Doctor, waiting to see what she's going to do next.

"Right then, let's follow that ship" the Doctor announces, taking off at a run, once again leaving her companions behind her.

Jenny is the first to follow, taking off after the Doctor with enthusiasm, quickly catching up with her. Clara, Ashildr, Bill and Heather not far behind. Following the Doctor running towards the danger. Running towards the Cybership ahead of them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Meanwhile the Cybership that had just flown over the Doctor, Clara, Ashildr, Jenny, Bill and Heather's head eventually locates the Cybermat.

"Cybermat located. Locking on and initiating landing procedures" the Cyberman piloting the ship announces.

The Cyberman watches the screen as it lands the ship. It sees the red circle that represents the Cybermat and watches as it gets closer and closer as the ship lands. Eventually the ship gets close enough to the ground for the Cyberman to activate the landing gear. It flips several switches on the console and there are hisses and clicks from different parts of the ship as the landing gear is deployed. The Cyberman flicks a few more switches to turn off the engines and there is a slow groaning sound as the engines power down. The remaining Cybermen all disembark from the ship, going down the set of metal stairs that deployed as they landed. They all stand in the middle of the clearing they landed it and stand to attention, waiting for their leader. They don't have to wait long. The metal stairs clunk as the Cyberleader makes his way down. It stands in front of its assembled crew.

"Report" It demands the nearest Cyberman.

"Cybermat located. It managed to bring down the ship but there was a problem, sir" the Cyberman explained.

"What sort of problem?" The Cyberleader asked, sounding as angry as a Cyberman could.

"The ship's pilot survived the crash" the Cyberman reported to its leader.

"How?" The Cyberleader questioned.

"They managed to gain some control over the ship and ease the crash landing" the Cyberman told the Cyberleader.

Back on board the ship the Cyberman who was piloting the ship was looking at the readout on screen. It pushed several buttons, scanning for life signs. It found more than it expected. Instead of only reading on life sign, as it expected there would be, it read that there were six. It looked closer at the readings it was getting and was unsure if it was a fault with the system. It pressed a few more buttons to get a more detailed readout and checked the screen. The first reading the Cyberman had received was correct. One of the lifeforms it was reading on the planet had two hearts and that could only mean one thing. The pilot quickly got out of its seat and hurried down the stairs and left the ship. The Cyberleader turned around to face it, hearing the loud clunks as it marched down the stairs.

"I have detected lifeforms on this planet" the pilot reports.

"How many?" The Cyberleader asks.

"Six" the pilot tells the Cyberleader.

"Six lifeforms shouldn't be any trouble" the Cyberleader dismisses.

"One of the lifeforms has two hearts" the pilot informs the Cyberleader.

"The Doctor" the Cyberleader hisses.

Meanwhile, a little deeper into the forest, not too far away from where the Cybership has landed, the Doctor, Clara, Ashildr, Bill, Heather and Jenny have all stopped heading in the direction of the Cybermat.

"Doctor? Was that…?" Clara is about to ask.

"A Cybership. It's obviously been tracking its little friend, just like we have" the Doctor answers, not even needing to hear the question.

"How many do you think were on board?" Bill questions.

"Hard to tell. Could be three, could be three hundred, could be three thousand. I hate to say it but there's only one way to find out" the Doctor replies.

"Please, don't say it Doctor" Ashildr begs.

"The only way to find out how many Cybermen were on that ship is to follow it. Follow them" the Doctor confirms.

"Can you not scan for them with your screwdriver?" Jenny queries.

"Unfortunately not. I can scan the Cybermat because it's giving off a signal, something the sonic can follow. The Cybermen aren't giving off anything. Not yet anyway" the Doctor explains.

"So, the next question is what are they so desperate to hide?" Clara enquires.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it can't be anything good which means…" the Doctor starts to tell them.

"…which means we have to stop them" Bill states.

The Doctor nods in agreement. She looks thoughtful. They can't all go rushing into this without a plan. They have no idea what lies ahead. How many Cybermen are ahead of them. If there were more than just those on the ship. What those Cybermen are so keen to hide. What they were willing to crash Jenny's ship for, just for getting too close to the planet. What could the Cybermen be so desperate to hide? What could be on this planet that they want to keep everyone away from it? Whatever it was the Doctor knew it would be something dangerous. Something powerful. A weapon of some sort, perhaps. But was sort of weapon? How powerful? How dangerous? What could it do? What sort of damage could it cause? How many people would die if the Cybermen got their hands on it? All questions the Doctor must consider. She looks to Clara and Bill, both of them knowing what the Doctor is thinking. They can both see, and almost hear, the Doctor's mind whirring away from where they're stood. They both know the Doctor is trying to come up with a plan, whilst also trying to figure out what's going on.

"So then, Doctor, a plan" Clara helpfully prompts and suggests.

"Yes, a plan. Well right now the only option we have is to go forward. To follow the Cybermat. We keep hidden, we observe and then we figure out our next move from there" the Doctor suggests.

"What about the TARDIS? Couldn't we use her? Land her somewhere nearby and watch from the screen" Bill reminds the Doctor.

"TARDIS isn't an option I'm afraid. She's rebuilding. Do you remember when you last saw me? I was regenerating. Or on the way to it at least. Well I took myself back to the TARDIS and kind of…exploded. Well not exploded, regenerated. But the energy. It caused damage to the TARDIS. So no TARDIS" the Doctor explains.

"No TARDIS" Bill mumbles, slightly disappointed.

The Doctor brings up her sonic screwdriver and again it emits the same beeping sound as before. She begins to walk back through the forest, unsure as to what else to do her companions follow her. This time the Doctor is a lot more cautious, knowing that somewhere deep in this forest is a lot of Cybermen, the Doctor has no idea how many. Worse still the Doctor doesn't know if the Cybermen already know that they're there. The pitch of the screwdriver's beeping gets even louder, meaning that they're not that far away from the Cybermat. It's that moment that the Doctor hears another sound. She can hear the hydraulic hiss of the Cybermen marching somewhere deep in the forest. She quickly hides behind the nearest tree and gestures for the others to do the same. Clara and Ashildr quickly duck behind a bush. Jenny joins the Doctor, hiding herself behind the same tree. Bill and Heather dive behind the nearest rock. The Doctor and Jenny risk peering out from behind their tree as they hear the Cybermen getting closer. As they hear the stomping march get louder as they get closer and closer. The Doctor and Jenny press themselves as close to the tree as they can get. Clara and Ashildr huddle closer together as the Cybermen get closer. The Cybermen march past the Doctor and Jenny who remain hidden, knowing they're not safe just yet. Heather holds Bill closer to her, feeling Bill shaking with fear. Heather kisses the top of Bill's head, reassuring Bill that she's there, that she's safe. They wait and listen as the Cybermen get further and further away. As soon as they can no longer hear the march of the Cybermen they all get out of their hiding places.

"They were looking for us, weren't they Doctor?" Bill asks, still shaking slightly, Heather holding her hand.

"Most probably" the Doctor admits.

"Do you think that's all of them?" Clara questions, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"I doubt it but…well…there's only one way to find out" the Doctor responds.

The Doctor heads deeper still into the forest, following the path the Cybermen cleared with their marching. Having no other choice, and not wanting to wait around for the Cybermen to come back, they follow the Doctor.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The group reach the clearing and hide themselves behind the trees. They can see the Cybership and the few remaining Cybermen march around. The Doctor watches them from behind the tree, ducking back behind whenever a Cyberman looks her way. Clara sneaks to the tree next to the Doctor.

"Now what do we do?" She asks in a barely audible whisper.

"Well, I think right now the best thing we can do is stay here and listen to what they're saying. They're bound to give us some hint as to what they're hiding" the Doctor theorises.

Clara looks at the Doctor sceptically. The Doctor gives her the look she has seen so many times before. It's the look that says 'Trust me, I'm the Doctor'. The Doctor and Clara watch as the Cyberleader approaches some of the remaining Cybermen.

"Is the facility still operational?" The Cyberleader questions.

"It is still operational. We have spoken to the guards and they have not reported anything unusual" one of the Cybermen reports.

At the word 'facility' the Doctor's brow furrows. She sneaks around and hides behind a different tree, one with a better view of the clearing in front of her. She carefully peers around and squints at the scene in front of her. She can still see the Cybership but it is no longer obscuring the building behind it. She can see a metallic structure, with a few Cybermen standing guard around it. From this distance the Doctor can't tell what sort of facility it is. She needs to get a closer look but with this many Cybermen around, getting closer might prove at least fatal, if not very tricky. Bill sneaks from her hiding spot and crouches behind a bush next to the Doctor's hiding spot.

"So what is it?" Bill queries in a hushed tone.

"I'm not sure. It's too far away to tell. If I could just get a closer look…but there's too many Cybermen to be able to do that. We need a distraction" the Doctor tells her.

"What sort of distraction?" Bill questions.

"A big one" the Doctor states.

Hearing the conversation between the Doctor and Bill Jenny sneaks closer.

"What about the sonic screwdriver? Could you do something, maybe make something on their ship blow up?" Jenny suggests.

"I'd have be closer to the ship. Unless…" the Doctor ponders.

"Unless what?" Bill prompts, seeing the idea forming in the Doctor's eyes.

"Well I'm picking up the signal from the Cybermat on my screwdriver. If I somehow use that signal to make the Cybermat home in on the screwdriver I might be able to do something to that Cybermat that will turn into a big distraction for the Cybermen" the Doctor theories.

Clara has snuck closer, after hearing the Doctor's pensive 'unless'.

"Do you think that'll work?" Clara asks sceptically.

"It did once, chances will it can again" the Doctor responds.

She takes her sonic screwdriver out of her jacket pocket. She twiddles a few of the settings. She closes her eyes, hoping she's done everything right, and pushes the activation switch. A low humming buzz emits from the screwdriver and Clara, Bill and Jenny tense as they wait for something to happen. At first nothing does, other than the buzzing sounds from the screwdriver. But eventually they hear something whizzing towards them. Bill sneaks a peek over the top of the rock she's hidden herself behind and can see a small silver shape making its way towards them. The Cybermat zooms to the Doctor's feet, looking a little like an excited dog greeting their owner when they get home. The Doctor bends down and picks it up.

"Now what?" Jenny asks.

"Now I open it up and twiddle with its programming. If I'm clever, and I usually am, I should be able to put something in its programming and make it sabotage something important. Doesn't matter what. Could be something on the Cybership or something in the facility" the Doctor explains.

"Umm…Doctor? Don't we want to be in the facility?" Bill points out.

"Ah, yes, of course we do. Ok so it needs to sabotage something on the ship. Hmmm…" the Doctor thinks.

She puts her sonic screwdriver to her lips and ponders. What could she program the Cybermat to do that would distract the Cybermen enough to make them retreat onto their ship? Then she has an idea.

"If I mess with its homing circuits I can make it home, go back to the ship but once it reaches the ship BOOM!" The Doctor tells them, getting that mad, excitable look in her eyes that all her companions have seen before.

Ashildr and Heather have both snuck closer, hearing the Doctor's plan from afar. The assemble companions watch as the Doctor uses her sonic screwdriver to open up the Cybermats head. They all expected to see wires but instead saw a brain nestled in the Cybermats head, with wires sticking into it. Clara wrinkles up her nose and Bill looks at the Cybermat with both pity and dread. Remembering herself what she felt when she had been converted. Fighting the programming that was trying to take her over. Trying to hold on to who she was. She watched at the Doctor's nimble fingers took some of the wires out and replaced them with new ones that she got from her pocket. Why the Doctor had wires in her pockets Bill had no idea. She carefully fitted the new wires into the Cybermats brain and with a few buzzes of the sonic screwdriver connected them. A shiver ran down Bill's spine as she remembers the feeling of the surgeon cutting into her and putting new parts in, like the Doctor was doing with the Cybermat. She remembers that electric buzz she felt in her brain as all these new wires were put in, trying to reprogram the way she thought. She watches as the Doctor once again fiddles with the settings on the sonic screwdriver and presses it against the Cybermats brain. She can see that when the Doctor activates the screwdriver the whole inside of the Cybermats head lights up in an eerie green glow. The Doctor replaces the Cybermats metal head plate and looks at the little creature sat in her hand.

"Right then Bitey, time to do your thing" she tells it.

"Bitey?" Clara questions.

"So I gave it a name" the Doctor confesses.

She puts the Cybermat on the floor and they all watch as it whizzes off in the direction of the Cybership. As they watch Bill stands next to the Doctor.

"What was it? Before it became a Cybermat?" She whispers in the Doctor's ear.

"A rat or a mouse. Some small rodent like creature" the Doctor tells her.

They watch as the Cybermat makes its way onto the ship. The Doctor holds her breath as she watches it disappear, hoping that her calculations were correct.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…" the Doctor counts down.

From inside the Cybership comes the sound of an explosion. All the Cybermen in the area turn around to face their ship.

"Go and find out what's wrong!" The Cyberleader orders.

All the Cybermen rush onto the ship, with the Cyberleader bringing up the rear. The Doctor and her companions wait until they're sure that all the Cybermen have retreated onto the ship to see the damage that their little friend has caused. The Doctor is the first to emerge from her hiding place and approach the clearing. She is still being cautious, sneaking glances at the ship with every step. When she's halfway there she signals to her companions that it's safe and they hurry to her side.

"Right, we need to be on high alert still. I'm not sure how long they'll be distracted for so be careful. But we do need to find out what that facility is. However it's big which means we're going to need to split up. So who wants to go with who?" The Doctor asks, already having some idea.

"I'm going with Clara" Ashildr tells the Doctor, without a moment's thought.

"I'm with Heather" Bill states.

"Which means it's you and me Jenny. So Clara, you and Ashildr check the left hand side of the building. Bill, you and Heather go right. Jenny and I will take the front entrance" the Doctor tells them.

"Won't that be dangerous?" Clara asks, concerned.

"Maybe, but then again maybe not. But we've got to find out what they're hiding" the Doctor explains, her brow furrowed.

"Meet back here?" Bill suggests.

"Meet back here in an hour" the Doctor confirms.

Clara and Ashildr peel off left whilst Bill and Heather go right, leaving the Doctor and Jenny. They both look up at the imposing metal structure. Both looking a little nervous. The Doctor takes Jenny's hand and they run towards the facilities entrance.


End file.
